Horizontal Slicing
Work is organized by technical layer (“build the API,” “update the schema”) rather than by independently deliverable behavior. Nothing ships until all the pieces are assembled.
10 minute read
Tag: Work-Decomposition
Monolithic Work Items
Work items go from product request to developer without being broken into smaller pieces. Items are as large as the feature they describe.
5 minute read
Unbounded WIP
The team has no constraint on how many items can be in progress at once. Work accumulates because there is nothing to stop starting and force finishing.
5 minute read
Undone Work
Work is marked complete before it is truly done. Hidden steps remain after the story is closed, including testing, validation, or deployment that someone else must finish.
6 minute read
Thin-Spread Teams
A small team owns too many products. Everyone context-switches constantly and nobody has enough focus to deliver any single product well.
6 minute read
Missing Product Ownership
The team has no dedicated product owner. Tech leads handle product decisions, coding, and stakeholder management simultaneously.
6 minute read
Push-Based Work Assignment
Work is assigned to individuals by a manager or lead instead of team members pulling the next highest-priority item.
9 minute read
Everything Started, Nothing Finished
The board shows many items in progress but few reaching done. The team is busy but not delivering.
3 minute read
Work Items Take Days or Weeks to Complete
Stories regularly take more than a week from start to done. Developers go days without integrating.
3 minute read